Game of Thrones
Season Seven
(SPOILERS) Column inches devoted to Game of Thrones, even in “respectable” publications, seems to
increase exponentially with each new season, so may well reach critical mass
with the final run. Groundswells of opinion duly become more evident, and as
happens with many a show by somewhere around this point, if not a couple of
years prior, Season Seven has seen many of the faithful turn on once hallowed
storytelling, and at least in part, there’s good reason for that.
Some suggest the show has jumped the shark (or crashed the Wall);
there were concerns over how much the pace increased last year, divested as it
was of George RR Martin’s novels as a direct source, but this year’s succession
of events make Six seem positively sluggish. I don’t think GoT has suddenly, resoundingly, lost it, and I’d argue there did need to be an increase in momentum
(people are quick to forget how much moaning went on about seemingly nothing happening for long stretches of
previous seasons), but there has definitely been a fallout from losing the
guiderail of the books; characterisation and incident have become increasingly cursory,
at times resembling a shopping list of scenes and encounters that need ticking
off, and with that comes a problem the series hasn’t faced before: an
unwillingness to suspend disbelief.
This season, people seem to get around the map in no time at
all; the once vast and unknowable lands now seem so much smaller and less
challenging. Much-anticipated encounters occur without any the expected impact.
In some cases, this has been a positive (the various Starks): in others,
underwhelming (neither Jon nor Daenerys are portrayed by strong enough actors
to achieve much in the way of a spark during one-on-one in scenes, making their
carnal attraction distinctly devoid of chemistry and thus leaving only the
promise of incest to titillate). In yet others, it all becomes a bit silly,
such as 7.6: Beyond the Wall’s travelogue where each character is duly given a
“Now it’s my turn” chance to interact with another; the results entirely lack
finesse.
Beyond the Wall has
been the big sticking point, the one where the confluence of
unlikely/ unbelievable events just became a bit too much. Daenerys miraculously flying
to the rescue in time on her dragon, Jon arbitrarily acting a tool just to
create the conditions for death (a dragon) and rescue (Uncle Benjen). Added to
which, Daenerys was convinced remarkably easily that the scheme to capture a
wight had merit. I didn’t particularly have a problem with the question of what
the Night King would have done if he hadn’t laid his lily-white hands on a
dragon (well, it would just have taken a bit longer, wouldn’t it?) but I did
find the Benjen-ex machina irritating in the extreme. Bad enough that they did
that, worse still that they pulled the old “Ride away while I fend the wights
off for absolutely no good reason other than the writers wouldn’t know what to
do with me if I stayed”. As for the “Kill the White Walker and his creations
all die”, well, I guess if it was good enough for George Lucas in The Phantom Menace…
I don’t have many complaints about the contrivance of the
Sansa-Anya plot. I mean, that’s the way these devices work. It’s not as if
there wasn’t/isn’t a genuine undercurrent and tension between the sisters. And
it was just plain satisfying to see Littlefinger finally bow out/bleed out.
Part of the problem of his exit, though, is that it further contributes to tapestry
becoming so much more streamlined in a show built on intrigue and suspect
loyalties. The only real tension in that respect has come from Cersei, and as
such, The Dragon and the Wolf’s double-crossing
(leading to Jaime riding out) was much needed, as was the more subdued pace in
the first half of the episode (it felt as if the show knew how to breathe
deeply again).
There are still question marks, such as the ramifications of
the revelation regarding Jon, as and when its revealed to all – the scene
between Samwell and Bran is another example of chronically indelicate
exposition. Samwell rolls up, leaving the Citadel mainly because the plot
requires it, and the first person he sees is Bran, leading to a highly
deductive conversation. When things seem to unfold too effortlessly, it’s a
sure sign the writers are no longer building stories but attempting to juggle
the elements so as to make it to the finish line – but mostly what remains
feels like a case of how and when rather than nursing the element of surprise.
Sometimes, the now rudimentary writing David Benioff and DB
Weiss works to the show’s favour; Euron bolting it because he’s scared shitless
immediately seemed like yet another dose of poor characterisation as a means to
an end, so to find it was a ruse was at least gratifying. In contrast, the
scene of Theon’s miraculous cocklessness seeing him to victory/redemption in a
fight on the beach at Dragonstone with someone twice as fierce and twice his
size was never less than ridiculous, and one of the weaker instances of
plotting/writing/motivation the show has seen. The season has had a few of
those, though, including Jon calling Daenerys “Dani” for no explicable reason
whatsoever and Brienne exclaiming “Fuck loyalty” because everything she held to
be sacrosanct has apparently been shattered at the sight of the undead.
Before Jon and Daenerys got it on, there seemed to be moves
in terms of the latter’s budding despotism to suggest she might not be all that
(despite being the great white saviour of previous seasons), and it will be a
shame if that’s cast aside. About the only interesting aspect of the character
is her hubristic assumption of rectitude (the silliness of accusing Jon of
pride in not swearing fealty when she is nursing the same sin only goes
unnoticed because Snow is a bit thick, like). The consequence of this plotline
is that both Tyrion and Varys, formerly two of the show’s best characters, are
now reduced to table leavings (the latter has a strong scene in which Daenerys
questions his loyalty, but that’s basically it).
But GoT rattled
along during these seven episodes, and I was never remotely bored (as I very occasionally
have been in the past). No, it’s no longer “prestige” TV, it’s become blockbuster
cinema on the small screen, with all the problems and insecurities of plotting,
internal logic and motivation that brings. The season has had its gems of
scenes (Diana Rigg’s death), but the kind of intimate flourishes that yielded
tension through dialogue and thespian showmanship are mostly a thing of the
past. Or, when they’re not (Cersei, Tyrion), there’s a sense that you’re only
seeing the regurgitation of earlier, better-delivered passages on the same
theme.
Can Season Eight regain something of the elegance of past
form? I have a feeling, if anything, it will only become more linear. Will Game of Thrones end up regarded in a
similar fashion to Buffy the Vampire
Slayer or The X-Files, where the first
four or five seasons are held up as an example of greatness before the rot set
in? Perhaps that’s the inevitability of a success story, that the makers begin
to become too conscious of what they’ve achieved and are no longer so steady on
the tiller. Alternatively, just blame Martin for not pulling his finger out and
getting the books finished, the lazy bugger.
(Possible SPOILERS for Season Eight - who knows) Inevitably,
there’s much speculation about what will transpire during the final furlong,
the most bizarre being that Bran will be revealed as the Night King. I guess it
could happen… George RR Martin by way
of Damon Lindelof. There was a form of time travel with Hodor, after all. Isaac
Hempstead Wright doesn’t seem to think so, though. Jamie killing Cersei seems way too obvious, but then I thought Jon
and “Dani” getting together seemed way too obvious. Arya killing Cersei would
be predictable too, not least because she’s been going on about it forever. I
can certainly see Jon having to sacrifice Daenerys (as the Prince Who Was
Promise); there’s no way these two get a happy ending together. Of course, you
could reverse those roles (although, Jon dying again?) I can also see the increasingly uncomfortable Tyrion
parting ways with his queen (but having him revealed as another Targaryen feels
a little too fan service-y). One thing ought to be odds-on, though. Unless the
Weiss and Beniof have got cold feet, since that element was definitely in short
supply in Seven, lots of cherished
people will die.
Agree? Disagree? Mildly or vehemently? Let me know in the comments below.